Letters to the Editor

Letters

Different Seasoning

I have been a subscriber of the Journal for over a decade, and have always been surprised when I get the magazine that it persists in dating itself with the seasons of the Northern Hemisphere. I thought it was “News of the World Environment.” So maybe the issues should be by number or dates — or both seasons?

We are certainly not enjoying spring “down under.”

Jonathan Peter Airlie Beach, Queensland, Australia

Dam It

I have recently uncovered a story your readers may find compelling. The Matte Group of Chile is proposing a dam project in Patagonia that could displace a large portion of the Indigenous population and destroy the habitats of endangered plant and animal species. A new network of power lines designed to transmit the resulting hydroelectricity to Chile’s cities will likely be constructed through 1,500 miles of native forests, potentially destroying thousands of acres of forest. While the power these dams will generate constitute a vital energy source for Chileans, there are more sustainable and ecologically sound options — such as wind, tidal, and geothermal energy — that are plentiful in the country.

The struggle over the dam pits grassroots environmental organizations and Indigenous peasant communities against the forces of globalization. The question is: Who will win?

Corrections

Due to a multiplication error, the Spring 2008 Spyhopping column “Tapping the Fat of the Land” overestimated the weight of overweight Americans. The correct figure is 583 thousand pounds of excess fat, not 583 million. The adjusted energy value of this fat would equal 2.92 million barrels of oil, not 29.2 trillion.

The report from the Borneo Project entitled “Burning for Biofuels” incorrectly named one of the companies involved in the merger to create Golden Hope. The company is Guthrie, not Bakrie.